BEAUTIFUL LILIES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21414, 11 February 1933, Page 8 (Supplement)

BEAUTIFUL LILIES

NUMEROUS VARIETIES > Lilies are the moat ornamental and beautiful ol cultivated bulbous plants. Their stately growth and various coloured flowers ensure popularity, both for pot . culture and outside embellishment of the flower garden. Many of the varieties are highly perfumed. Nearly all the species and varieties thrive under Auckland climatic conditions. Some of the hardiest sre well adapted for planting among shrubs and on the edges of ornamental plantations where they become permanent. By growing a 'selection in pots to flower at different times a valuable Addition to greenhouse decorative subjects may be had. Lilium auratum, the golden rayed lily cf Japan, with its sub-varieties, Is the finest of all lilies. The large white flowers, with a prominent golden band in the centre of each petal, are produced on upright stems, often fasciated with large numbers of flowers on each flat stem. The flowers are highly fragrant. OTHER VARIETIES Lilium speciosum (pure white), SpecioBum roseum (with jrose-tinted flowers), «■ Speciosum rubrum (similar to the type - but heavily spotted crimson), and Melpomene and magnifieum are at present most conspicuous in Auckland gardens with tjieir tall branching flower stems 'and lovely blossoms. Lilium tigrinum, the tiger spotted lily, is an easily cultivated species with . orange-red flowers, spotted black, freely produced on upright stems. There is a double-flowered yariety of this popular species. Liliuin " elegans, with its sub-varieties, Is a native of-Japan, a dwarf-growing summer flowering species, producing bright coloured flowers on dwarf, upright Btems. All lilies in flower should be kept well mulched with short manure and well watered during dry weather. In the treatment of lilie3 that have done flowering the stems should be allowed to die off ■ naturally before removing them. The small, .black bulbils that form in the axils of/ the leaves of tigrinum may be utilised . for propagation. J,] DIRECTIONS TO AMATEURS Azaleas, camellias, rhododendrons and many other flowering shrubs are chiefly propagated by layering. Now is a suitable time/to proceed wjth the work. Carnations and a few other dwarf perennials are propagated in the same manner. Layering is a method of propagation. to root plants while still attached to and fed by the parent plant. It is the best m6ans of propagating those kfhds that do not strike readily from cuttings and are now grown from seeds. The principle of layering is to cause the returning sap to form roots where the incision has been made and the end of the slxoot bent upward, thus restricting the full flow of sap from the parent tree or plant. Various methods are adopted. y ln the case of azaleas and some other plants it is done merely by bending down the branches without any cutting, pegging and covering with earth. / Tongue layering Tongue layering is the system most largely practised with the greatest success. It consists in cutting the branch. halfway- through below a bud and making an incision in an upward direction, varying in length with different plants, toward the end of the shoot. Next insert the layer in the soil and firmly 6ecnre it. It is important to keep the tongue separated by some of the soil or a small piece of wood, otherwise the parts nyght unite again without forming roots. ■< It is also important to keep the layered portion quite upright. Firming the earth round the stem is often sufficient, otherwise a neat stake is necessary. strong peg 3 should be selected; wire is .sometimes used. Avoid pegs that are likely to breed fungus. There are several other systems of layering, such a." wiring or strangulation, twisting and piercing, but for all practical purposes the tongueing and the bending down of' those plants that root without anv inciEnon is the simplest. FLOWERING CLIMBERS HANDSOME SPECIES Solanum wendlandii i s one of the most Bhowy and useful of summer-flowering climbing plants for training against walls, pergolas, or trellisses. The flowers, are of a pleasing shade of bluish mauve,, and are borne in large clusters. It continues in Hower throughout the summer. It is a semi-deciduous species. It should be planted on the sheltered side. Passiflora eynsford gem is another handsome summer-flowering climber. Tho flowers »a red, shading to rose, and are very freely produced for a long season. nlB quick-growing and hardy. Tacsonia is a very showy species, beanng pink flowers, followed by large stems. The fruits are edible bearf* ™arucata is a rampant grower, vi 1 ® scnr l et ' flowers 011 long Sh£ U ' L V, This variety covers a .. ingiy.^SlS*^ a mU a S ll\ e arr ? n S e i? cc ordietv "wiH n ik a . r, other dosirable varshowy pink blossoms.